Chapter 4
It was only after pressing the button that I started to feel nervous.
‘Would it be too pathetic to regret it already?’
This was the very thing the gallery veterans had unanimously tried to dissuade me from doing.
But.
It was better to go fight than sit still and leave everything to luck.
I gripped the scythe’s handle tightly.
I stepped onto the stone staircase that descended from the ceiling and began walking upward.
Creeeak.
The moment I entered Floor 2, I felt the humidity.
Something was writhing across the stone floor.
“……”
A black, translucent mass of jelly.
[Defender: Black Slime (Floor 2)]
It was a slime.
It was about one meter in size.
I didn’t want to tempt fate, but it didn’t look very threatening.
The slime hadn’t noticed me.
I held my breath and raised the scythe high.
Get the first strike in.
“Hup!”
“Huh?”
Just as I was about to bring it down, the slime flattened its body and dodged.
A miss.
Clang!
The scythe’s blade struck the floor.
My wrist throbbed from the recoil.
That was when it happened.
Boing—
The slime leaped up and flew straight at me.
“Eek!”
I had no time to dodge.
Splat!
The black mass stuck to my thigh.
“Wh-Why won’t this come off!”
I tried pulling it off with my hand, but I wasn’t strong enough.
“Ugh…”
An unpleasant sensation.
Its slime crawled across my skin.
It was cold.
A chill seeped through my stockings.
Wobble… wobble…
“Ah, wait…!”
It was trying to burrow right beneath my frilled skirt.
I had to cut it with the scythe, but I might cut my own leg, too.
“This is taking too long…”
I made my decision.
Thud.
I dropped the scythe’s handle onto the floor.
I hadn’t abandoned my weapon.
Instead of the handle, I grabbed the scythe’s blade directly.
“Get off…!”
I pushed the blade between the black mass covering my thigh and my skin.
Then, with precision,
I scraped it off as if filleting a fish.
Scritch.
“Got it.”
Sliiide.
The black mass, split in half, dropped limply to the floor.
It hadn’t left even a mark on my leg.
‘If anything, it feels a little moisturized…’
Now you’re dead.
Whoosh! Slash! Bam! Bam! Bam!!!
I swung the scythe like a madwoman.
“Huff… huff…”
I guess I overdid it.
The slime had become a cube.
I stared blankly down at the pieces.
“574F was right…”
It was weak.
If I hadn’t missed because I was nervous at first, it would have been a one-second kill.
[Successfully defeated the Black Slime of Floor 2]
[By winning the duel against the master of the floor, you become the master of this floor.]
[You have received 100G as a promotion reward!]
[Level up! Lv. 1 → Lv. 2]
[You have gained 3 stat points!]
Nice.
So now I was in charge of guarding Floor 2.
The slime would take care of Floor 1.
Still dazed, I turned the hologram back on.
“Whoa…”
The gallery was in an uproar.
______
Title: No Way You Actually Went, Right?
Title: Nooooooo, My Precious Newbieeeeeee
Title: She Got to the Next Floor in One Daaaaaay, Fuuuuuuuck
Title: Show Us the Hero Before You Go Show Us the Hero Before You Go Show Us the Hero Before You Go Show Us the Hero Before You Go
Title: Fuck, bring her back to life
Title: Upvote if you’re the Floor 1 guy laughing at the gallery freaking out even though you haven’t gone up lol
Title: There is no way she went up.
______
______
Title: No Way You Actually Went, Right?
Author: Fenrir
Why is she not posting anything?
You just went offline to mess with us, right?
______
I left a comment.
ㅇㅇ(2F) : Hey.
ㄴ Fenrir : ?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(487F) : ???
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(347F) : Why the fuck is this guy on Floor 2?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(482F) : Did she really go up?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(418F) : No way, she actually won the promotion match right away????
People were taking the bait in real time.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(439F) : This is the first time I’ve seen someone’s number change less than an hour after being possessed lol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(372F) : Her talent is fucking nuts, holy shit
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(356F) : This seriously makes no fucking sense.
Reactions exploded, with everyone asking how I had immediately claimed the next floor.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(741F) : Tell us how you did it RIGHT NOW
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(211F) : It takes a year of training just to clear one floor, but you did it in an hour? Fucking lol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(418F) : Even a year is fast.
It takes a year to beat that jelly?
There was no way.
It was a monster with absolutely zero defense.
All I had done was wave my scythe around.
So… 574F’s theory had simply been correct.
“It really was weak.”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(151F) : All that stuff about a week… and a year of training… It was all based on the standards of ordinary people lol
But rather than thinking that way, the comments seemed convinced that I had used some special method.
That was how hard it seemed for them to imagine fighting the next floor’s monster without training.
ㅇㅇ(331F) : Tell us the story. What appears on Floor 2?
ㅇㅇ(411F) : Was it really weak?
ㅇㅇ(412F) : How did you kill it? Could you even deal damage with a Level 1 barebones build?
ㅇㅇ(218F) : Share the strategy.
ㅇㅇ(741F) : Please, give us some fresh information on an unexplored floor, huff huff…
A strategy, huh.
All I had done was cut it.
I took a picture and started a new post.
______
Title: Proof for Now & 574F Seems to Have Been Right.
Author: ㅇㅇ(2F)
{Photo of the black slime’s corpse, now a cube}
It was so weak there was barely anything to do.
I just gave it a quick slash with my scythe and it died.
Looks like I really didn’t have to worry, just as 574F said?
______
Naturally, I left out the moment that looked like the opening of a tentacle story.
[Comments]
Macanong : Wow~ It’s a slime~ I wanna touch itttt…
ㅇㅇ(321F) : It is a lowly creature. I’ve never seen something like that before.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(554F) : There are some that look like that and are fucking strong.
I also saw a comment from Floor 574.
ㅇㅇ(574F) : Good job for now.
ㅇㅇ(574F) : But we still can’t relax. If you’re on Floor 2, the hero will be able to come up right away.
He was right.
There was no way a slime could provide a proper defense.
They had said it was safe once you reached Floor 100.
‘Should I make reaching Floor 100 my goal for now…?’
I made a plan and posted a question on the gallery.
It was about how to use the things I had gained from killing the slime.
______
Title: How Do I Use These 3 Stat Points and 100G?
Author: ㅇㅇ(2F)
Where should I put the stat points?
And how do I use the 100 gold? I’ve searched the hologram over and over, but I can’t find a shop.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ(339F) : You use gold on payday.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(2F) (Author) : Payday?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(339F) : You get paid once a month, and a golden carriage comes to the tower. Buy things then.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(2F) (Author) : Aha.
______
Payday. A golden carriage.
“It really is an army…”
It was funny that the Demon King had designated a payday to provide his soldiers with benefits.
Maybe it really was a white-collar company. Aside from me, it seemed no one ever got to see a hero, either.
Just then, a new strategy post answering my question went up.
It was written by the Reaper who had singled me out as his disciple earlier.
______
Title: Disciple, Read This.
Author: Captain Death Note
…It was an extremely reckless act, but since it ultimately saved time, I will not rebuke you any further.
Put the 3 points you just gained entirely into Intelligence.
It will increase your time efficiency as you retrieve your circle, which you desire so greatly.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ(513F) : So how much faster does it make you, damn it lol
ㅇㅇ(211F) : Upvote if you think the newbie won’t even listen to this lol
ㅇㅇ(312F) : The newbie is probably just waiting for 574F’s post right now
______
Just as the comments had predicted.
I was waiting only for Floor 574’s post.
It wasn’t long before he left a comment.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ(574F) : Don’t think about it. Go straight up. Put one point each into Strength, Agility, and Senses.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(2F) : For real? Is that okay? Won’t I end up with a trash build?
ㄴㅇㅇ(574F) : It’s fine. You need those stats to equip gear anyway, so it’s never a waste. If you keep putting points in them like that, you should be able to bulldoze your way through at least Floor 10 with mindless basic attacks.
This was it.
The answer I had wanted.
But the moment his comment appeared, the gallery caught fire again.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(651F) : This is fucking insane. Can a 500-floor nobody really give stat advice over all the natural Demon King’s Army registered users? Every single stat is precious, for fuck’s sake
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(345F) : The newbie said the Floor 2 monster was weak. Since he got it right this time, what else can we do?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(651F) : That’s such hindsight bullshit. Sigh.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : But seriously, how did you know that? Are you a regressor?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : I just inferred it from the facts given.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(651F) : Inferred, my ass. Your evidence is pure headcanon lol. And what the fuck do you mean, he can push to Floor 10? How would you know that?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : You can estimate from the fact that a slime appeared on Floor 1. I was being very conservative even with Floor 10.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(651F) : That’s exactly what I’m asking! Why the fuck are you the one making that estimate? LOLLLLLLLLL
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(312F) : Emperor of Headcanon, Brain Emperor
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : No, think about it. If there’s a slime on Floor 2, would an orc show up on Floor 3? It’d be a goblin at worst, wouldn’t it?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : Just write down all the monsters that will appear up to Floor 100 in a notebook and post it lol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(329F) : Nobody can stop this bastard right now. He’s practically possessed by the Demon King, seriously. Might as well say he arranged the entire Demon King’s Tower himself.
ㄴ Knowing the Leisure of a Cup of Tea : Everyone, calm down… I think we should just let the newbie decide for herself. ^^
Floor 574 was being dogpiled.
But he showed no sign of being intimidated as he spoke to me.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : Newbie. Keep putting points into Strength, Agility, and Senses until Floor 5, and first check how much stronger the monsters get. If they seem manageable, start saving your stat points from then on.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : A promotion match without putting in your stat points? What the hell lol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : And when you have some breathing room, listen to the Reaper registered user and start training black magic.
Floor 574 was laying out a guideline.
But he was met with opposition again.
ㄴ Captain Death Note (Author) : What are you saying! Training must begin this very instant!
ㄴ Sword Sovereign Jihee : I agree with Floor 574. Strengthening yourself to wield a weapon is the true path of martial arts.
ㄴ Captain Death Note (Author) : Stay out of this, you vulgar woman!
The comment section was a mess.
As expected, opinions were divided.
I fell into thought.
“The choice… has to be mine.”
That was exactly what the one registered user who stood out by using such an elegant tone had said.
No matter what anyone else said, the choice was ultimately mine.
Because my life was on the line.
The gallery was only a reference.
Let the newbie decide for herself. ^^
That comment had conveyed exactly that meaning.
I made my decision.
I would not blindly trust Floor 574’s words simply because they had moved me, nor would I let myself be swayed by the experience and authority of the natural registered users.
All of it, coldly.
I would look at it only as information I had been given and make my own judgment.
I asked a question.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(2F): Master Reaper. If I don’t put all my points into Intelligence from now on, will I be unable to learn black magic?
Captain Death Note (Author) : …That is not the case, but will it not delay the time it takes to retrieve your circle?
So even if I skipped Intelligence for now, it would not be a major problem.
If so…
I opened my status window and slammed one point each into Strength, Agility, and Senses.
[Strength has increased by 1.]
[Agility has increased by 1.]
[Senses have increased by 1.]
It was almost as if I could hear Master Reaper screaming.
But this was the right choice.
One slime was not enough data.
In the end, I had to climb higher right away, so putting points into stats that would help me immediately was the correct answer.
“Huh?”
The scythe felt just a little lighter.
Confidence welled up inside me.
I summoned the staircase leading to Floor 3.
[The promotion match will now begin.]